San Simeon and Morro Bay

Leaving Monterey we had a big distance to sail – over 90 miles as the most efficient route plotted out, but would end up being just over 101 miles in total. Said distance was not navigable during the short daylight hours at this time of the year, so we had the choice of arriving to our next destination at night, or sail through the night and arrive in the morning. It is always preferred to arrive during daylight, so we opted to leave Monterey in the late morning, sail through the day and night, and arrive after sunrise – which we did exactly.

We arrived in San Simeon, just as the sun was rising, 21 hours after our departure and got right to getting more sleep. Although we both slept some over the night-sail, it is never enough. It has become apparent that these single overnight sails really mean two full days, as once we arrive the following day is blown just recovering from the previous day and night. It wasn’t until the next-next day that we decided to get off the boat to explore the small trail system on the point which was our view. This involved our first “wet landing” on a beach with breaking waves. You can imagine why it is called “wet”, as the possibility of taking a wave into the dinghy during this process is very high. We were lucky as both our landing and launch went smoothly – both of us staying dry. A short hike ensued.

The town and safe harbor of Morro Bay was just a short 27 nautical mile sail away. Sadly, we were only able to sail about 90 minutes of the six-plus hours travel time. We had little choice but to maintain speed as we desperately wanted to arrive at the entrance to Morro Bay at slack tide. The currents can run strong at the break wall, and if there is an opposing wind or sea, then the sea-state can be quite hostile. it all turned out to be moot, as our time of arrival was immaculate and we quietly motored right on in to a mooring ball.

Said mooring ball turned out to be a disaster. We stayed a full night there only to wake up to our neighbor-boat (also on a ball) only inches from hitting us. Meriwether – with her full keel – will rotate on the anchor or ball more by current then wind. The light weight catamaran beside us however, floated around by the gentlest of breeze and had little surface area under the water. This led to both boats swinging around at different times and angles, nearly colliding. We moved on to another ball, but soon left it as we were uncertain if it was public or private. Eventually we would simply anchor outside the mooring field – our preferred as it were.

We were tied to the ball at the stern of this little cat

We stayed in Morro Bay for a few days, doing a little reprovisioning and work, but mostly eating at every restaurant in town, then trying to walk off the calories each evening. The locals kept us company during our stay. So relaxed and well fed were the sea otters, that many were bleached blond from the length at which they get to just sunbathe much of the day away.

It was here that we confirmed out veeeeery expensive Iridium Go! device has decided to stop working – just outside of warranty. Stuck in a reboot loop, and refusing to reset to factory defaults, we no longer have our tracking or satellite communications. Predict Wind was offering no help even though they are about to lose out on a quite hefty amount of subscription dollars from us. The thought of purchasing another nearly $1000 device that lasted less then 18 months doesn’t sit well with us. Ugh.